The 2025 edition of The 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas by Texas Monthly has been announced and is now ready for consumption. BBQ editor Daniel Vaughn and the Texas Monthly staff traveled to 319 barbecue spots across the Lone Star State to develop the quadrennial list.
I've been eating Texas barbecue since I moved to Austin in 2016, but I didn't become serious about seeking it out until 2021. That's the year I met Kel, and we began exploring the Lone Star State together.
Naturally, I looked to Texas Monthly's 2021 list of the state's top barbecue for guidance as I joined Kel on my first trips to Dallas and Houston.
At home in Austin, we waited in line for three hours at Franklin Barbecue. We followed that up with a similar wait at Goldee's in Fort Worth and Snow's in Lexington.
Is waiting three hours to eat at a restaurant a bit wild? Absolutely. However, visiting three former number one Texas BBQ joints has given us a better perspective on evaluating the newer ones. Here's what's smokin' in the magazine's 2025 BBQ roundup.
Texas Monthly's Top 50
#1 BBQ Joint: Burnt Bean Co
Burnt Bean Co in Seguin, about an hour's drive south of Austin, ranked #4 on the 2021 list, and Kel and I both had a hunch it'd be #1 for 2025. I'm excited to share that we called it correctly!
As I wrote in my recap of our experience at Burnt Bean Co, "They find ways to elevate every menu item, from often-overlooked sides to desserts." While we enjoyed every meat ordered, including brisket, pork ribs, sausage, and beef rib, the Sunday barbacoa taco was my WOW moment.
Pitmasters Ernest Servantes and Dave Kirkland met on the competition circuit before going into business together. In the central square of Seguin, they've raised the bar on what you can and should expect from a Texas barbecue restaurant experience.
Top 10
- Burnt Bean Co (Seguin, South Central)
- LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue (Austin)
- Goldee's Barbecue (Fort Worth)
- Redbird BBQ (Port Neches, Southeast)
- GW's BBQ (San Juan, Rio Grande Valley)
- InterStellar BBQ (Austin)
- Dayne's Craft Barbecue (Aledo, near Fort Worth)
- LaVaca BBQ (Port Lavaca, Gulf Coast)
- Truth Barbeque (Houston)
- Evie Mae's Pit Barbecue (Wolfforth, South Plains/West Texas)
I'm excited to see another Austin restaurant in the #2 ranking, after InterStellar claimed the spot in 2021. In recent years, LeRoy and Lewis transitioned from their food truck to a shiny new brick-and-mortar restaurant while remaining in South Austin. Their smoked beef cheeks are still the best, and they make one of Austin's best burgers.
Goldee's dropped from #1 to #3, which is appropriate. This list is too infrequent for the same place to be listed two years in a row (for eight years straight). I prefer to see a new restaurant rise, and Burnt Bean Co deserves the top spot.
I haven't traveled east of Galveston yet, so Redbird BBQ near the Louisiana border would be new ground for me. In late 2024, I visited Brownsville and South Padre Island for the first time, but we didn't make it as far west in the Rio Grande Valley as GW's BBQ. I can see getting to both of these top 10 joints in the next four years.
Kel and I love InterStellar BBQ, the closest spot we live to on Texas Monthly's Top 50 list of the best BBQ joints. In 2024, it garnered one of four Michelin stars in Texas for BBQ.
Dayne's Craft Barbecue in Aledo, west of Fort Worth, and LaVaca BBQ on the Texas Gulf Coast are the other two places in the top ten I haven't eaten at personally (yet).
Truth Barbecue has remained in the top 10 for the second list in a row, deservedly so. Along with InterStellar, I've eaten Truth's brisket the most often, and it's been consistently excellent.
Finally, Texas Monthly ranked Evie Mae's Pit Barbecue #10 for 2025. Kel and I had a fantastic lunch here during our first trip to Lubbock last fall. Beyond the meats, they had the most extensive dessert offering I've seen at a barbecue restaurant.
Franklin Barbecue and Snow's BBQ, both former No. 1 spots, are noticeably missing from the top 10 in the 2025 rankings. I'm not surprised. While they've stayed true to a traditional Texas barbecue style, many of today's top pitmasters are blending in cultural influences and experimenting with new ingredients.
I also can't stress enough how much creative sides and desserts matter to diners, especially if you want us to return.
The Rest of the List
Beyond the top 10 spots, Austin BBQ is represented by:
- Franklin
- La Barbecue
- Briscuits
- KG BBQ
- Mum Foods Smokehouse and Delicatessen
- Stiles Switch BBQ
La Barbecue earned a Michelin star in 2024, KG BBQ incorporates Egyptian influences, and Briscuits marries brisket with biscuits to significant effect. I still haven't been to Briscuits, but it's at the top of my Austin to-do list. Mum Foods has also been on my list to try, while I got lunch from Stiles Switch in Cedar Park as recently as a few weeks ago.
Distant Relatives, Micklethwait, and Terry Black's absences from Austin are notable, though all of them were included on the Honorable Mentions list.
It's been a few years since I've been to Dallas, so I'm not as familiar with the barbecue scene there as I am in the other big cities. Slow Bone BBQ and Smokey Joe's BBQ made the top 50. I recall a tasty Meat Lover's Pizza Sausage from Smokey Joe's at the Texas Monthly BBQ Fest, but haven't been to their joint in person.
In nearby Fort Worth, Panther City BBQ is still among the top 50, and Sabar BBQ, a food trailer with Pakistani influences, joins it.
Houston, the largest city in Texas, has two barbecue spots: Brisket & Rice and Pinkerton's Barbecue. I haven't eaten at either, though I did try Pinkerton's San Antonio location (which was included in Texas Monthly's 2021 list).
Speaking of barbecue in San Antonio, 2M Smokehouse is on the list again, and Reese Bros BBQ, which opened in 2022, also made it.
I was happy to see Barbs B Q in Lockhart make the list. Along with La Barbecue in Austin, they're some of the few women-owned Texas BBQ joints.
Misses
The biggest surprise about the 2025 Texas Monthly top 50 list was Khoi Barbecue's absence. Based on my experience with this Houston joint's Viet-Tex food, I was sure they'd make the cut.
I also think there's a case to be made for Curry Boys BBQ in San Antonio, which marries Thai curries with Texas barbecue. The owners are multiple James Beard Award semifinalists.
Another Asian-influence BBQ joint that didn't make the top 50 is Blood Bros BBQ, though it was on the 2021 list and still earned an honorable mention for 2025.
After years of BBQ road trips with Kel, it’s been fun to see how much the Texas scene continues to evolve. While some classics stayed steady, others gave way to bold newcomers. With the 2025 Texas monthly list of the 50 best BBQ joints available, I’ve got plenty of new joints to chase—and a few opinions to share.
